“Nay, he would not. James Stuart is every bit as intractable as his late cousin, Elizabeth Tudor, and the truth of the matter is that you must have another husband, Jasmine. I would have liked it if you could choose for yourself this time, but it is not to be. You must marry James Leslie, so the sooner you begin to soothe his ruffled feelings the better. I think I may have an idea,” she chuckled.
“What?” Jasmine asked, curious in spite of herself.
“I think that you and the earl would do better without the encumbrance of an old lady and four children,” Skye said. “In a week or two I shall take the children to visit their relations over at Archambault, and then we shall go on to Paris. By then the worst of winter will be over, and I shall return to England with my great-grandchildren. You and James will follow when you will. You will have all the time in the world that you need to become reacquainted. Then when you return to England to marry it will be a happy occasion. I would like you wed at Queen’s Malvern, and I shall make my desire known to the earl.”
“He wants us wed before the entire court,” Jasmine said glumly.
“A wish hatched in the heat of anger,” Skye replied. “If I say Queen’s Malvern, he will acquiesce,” she concluded with a smile.
Jasmine laughed at the arch tone in her grandmother’s voice. “Even at your age, madame, no man will refuse you,” she said. “God’s blood, I wish I were more like you!”
“You are too much like me, I fear,” Skye chuckled. “I hope you will attain a degree of wisdom far sooner than I did. I look back upon my life, with all its wildness and adventures, and I am amazed that I am here today to tell the tale, darling girl.”
Jasmine looked up into her grandmother’s face. “Don’t ever leave me,” she said quietly.
Skye patted the younger woman’s hand comfortingly. “One day I will go,” she said, “but not yet, darling girl; and even when this weary old body of mine has released its hold upon my soul I shall yet be with you, Jasmine. You will only have to remember me, and I will be there to whisper in your ear.” Then she chuckled again. “There is one very good thing about your marriage to Lord Leslie,” she told her granddaughter. “You shall not have to change your monogram. Lindley and Leslie both begin with L!”
Jasmine laughed in spite of herself. “You are extraordinary!” she said to Skye.
“Indeed I am,” the older woman agreed. “And you are not the first to tell me so, darling girl. Oh, no! You are not the first.”
“Shameless when she was young, and still shameless,” said Skye’s elderly tiring woman, Daisy Kelly. “Well, lady, are ye going to lie abed the whole day, or shall I prepare yer bath?”
“A bath, you old harridan,” Skye told her servant and friend. Then she turned to Jasmine. “Where is himself?”
“In the nursery,” Jasmine replied, “playing ball with Charlie. He is quite amazing with the children. I came into the hall this morning to find him teaching Henry a proper court bow, and both of the girls are taken with him, too. How many children did he have, and how did he lose them?” she wondered. “You know, grandmama, ‘tis the only time I see him soften, with the children. He is hard otherwise.”
“You cannot rely upon the children to soften him,” Skye counseled wisely. “They will grow up and leave you together.If you have nothing to begin with, there will be nothing when the children are gone. Now as to James Leslie’s history, I can remember this. He was wed to a cousin, a Gordon, I believe. There were two sons, and his wife was with child a third time when she took her lads and went visiting at a nearby religious house. The place was attacked by fanatics belonging to the Calvinist faith. They raped, slaughtered, and burned. The young countess and her sons were murdered along with the rest of the nuns. Although the king ordered a full investigation, and demanded the miscreants be caught and punished, none ever were. Naturally, James Leslie was very bitter about it. He still is, I suspect.”
“And he has never remarried,” Jasmine said thought fully.
“His family has certainly implored him to,” Skye replied. “It has been fifteen years since his wife and children died. His sons would have been grown by now. ‘Twas a terrible tragedy he suffered.”
“Grandmama, when the king first ordered me to wed with the earl I remember that James Leslie told me he had come to Greenwood to ask your permission to court me after that tiny scandal we caused several days earlier. He said you sent him away because you had already arranged my marriage to Rowan. He said you told him it was best I not even know he had been there. Is that true, Grandmama?”
“Aye,” Skye admitted without hesitation. “The earl does not lie.”
Jasmine looked reflective, then she sighed. “I’ve been very foolish,” she admitted. “I should not have run away.”
“Do not distress yourself, my darling girl. You needed more time than it appeared James Leslie was willing to give you. Where you made your mistake was in staying away so long,” her grandmother told her. “And I hold myself responsible for that. Instead of enjoying myself helping you to intrigue against theearl, I should have offered you wise counsel and insisted you return home. The deed is done, and now there is help for it. You must win James Leslie over if you are to have a happy marriage. To that end you will agree with my plan of action, Jasmine. Shall I take the children and wend my way home?”
“Stay at Belles Fleurs a bit, Grandmama, then we shall spring this little idea of yours upon the earl as if we had just thought of it,” Jasmine said. “If he does not agree, we cannot do it, I fear.”
“And he is apt to say nay if we spring it upon him too soon,” Skye agreed. “We will, however, have to keep the little ones out of the way while they remain here. I know! We shall find them a tutor, and they shall begin their lessons. That way they will be well occupied while I help you to soften up the earl. Then, when he is susceptible, we shall gain his permission, and I shall take the children back to Queen’s Malvern. Left alone, you may seduce the handsome devil, darling Jasmine, and once he is under your sweet spell you’ll wed and live happily ever after,” Skye finished triumphantly. “Ahhh, how such a strategy takes me back to my own youth!”
Little girl, little girl! Do not interfere so.
Skye stiffened. She had heard his voice! She had distinctly heard Adam’s voice.Or had she?
“Grandmama?” Jasmine’s look was a concerned one.
Skye shook off the eerie feeling. “‘Tis nothing,” she said, wondering if she was going mad. Then she pushed the sensation far into the back of her consciousness as, filled with new enthusiasm, she began to design in her head new schemes to help her favorite grandchild. Enchanting a man and stealing his heart was not all that difficult, and when a woman was as beautiful and as clever as Jasmine, why it would be almost too easy, the old lady considered.A rival!Yes, the earl of Glenkirk definitely needed a rival for Jasmine’s affections. There wasnothing like another man, eager and ready to woo, to make a prospective bridegroom even more anxious. Of course Jasmine could not know, for if James Leslie needed to fall in love with Jasmine again, so Jasmine needed to fall in love with James Leslie as well.
It would have to be a very handsome man, but a man who was perhaps a trifle shallow and nowhere near as principled as the earl. Her granddaughter was no fool, Skye knew, and would not be taken in by a less honorable man. And just to be absolutely certain Jasmine would not fall in love with the wrong man the rival should be married. Aye!It was a brilliant plan!
“Run along now, my darling girl,” Skye told Jasmine. Then to Daisy, “Is that bath finally ready, or am I to wait until Michaelmas for it?” She shifted herself from the bed, waving Jasmine off as she did so. “God’s boots! I had forgotten how damp this château gets in the winter. Put more wood on the fire, Daisy. I’m chilled to the bone.”
“Can’t go home soon enough for me,” Daisy grumbled.
